A crossbow-wielding maniac is on the loose after shooting a cat through the neck.

Shocked owner Simon Temple found his cat Bart on the doorstep of his home in Blyth, Northumberland, with a 10in bolt through his neck.

Mr Temple, 27, of St Bede's Place, was woken by Bart struggling to get inside at 3.30am.

The cat was taken to the PDSA hospital in Felling where vets had to operate to remove the bolt.

Mr Temple said: "I couldn't believe it. It was 3.30am when I heard the cat flap.

"I went to open the door and found him sitting on the doorstep with the crossbow bolt in his neck.

"I went into a panic and phoned my mother and eventually had to get a friend to drive me to the PDSA hospital. They said the bolt had gone through the scruff of his neck.

"Another quarter of an inch and he would have been dead.

"You don't expect this sort of thing to happen and I just hope someone gets a guilty conscience and comes forward but I can't see that happening if they're heartless enough to shoot a cat in the first place."

Insp Colin Green, of Blyth police, said: "This is a particularly horrible incident and we'd ask anybody with information to forward it on to us in confidence. We haven't had any similar incidents reported to us and fortunately the cat is OK, but we're keen to recover the weapon as it's potentially lethal."